Chris' brother brought his new girl-friend home for the first time and I thought to make something interesting instead of our regular Asian meals. I looked through a lot of cookboks and settled on this dish from "Little Italy Cookbook" by David Ruggerio as it's quite easy to prepare. It was served with a marinated chicken and vegetable salad. And of course, there was a bottle of white wine to go with the meal. (No dessert for tonight as I was told she doesn't like anything "sweet".)
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Cousin Vinny’s Linguine with Scallops
serve 6-8 at a first course or 3-4 main dish

6 T. olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 shallots, minced
5 fresh basil leaves, chopped
½ t. crushed red chili flakes
2 t. chopped fresh Italian parsley
½ t. fresh thyme leaves
2 28-oz. Cans peels plum tomatoes
½ cup dry white wine
1 lb. button mushrooms, sliced
1 lb. linguine
2 lb. bay scallops
1 T. lemon juice
½ t. freshly ground black pepper

Heat 2 T. of the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic and shallots and saute for 3 minutes, or until golden brown, Add the basil, chili flakes, parsley, thyme, tomatoes and wine. Bring to a boil, Lower the heat and simmer for 20 minutes, then add mushrooms.
Cook the pasta al dente according to the instruction on the package.
Heat the remaining 4 T. of olive oil in a skillet over high heat. Add the scallops and quickly saute for 1 minute. Add the lemon juice and pepper. Add the scallops to the sauce, spoon immediately over the linguine, and serve.